


A Little More Than Lonely

by DramaticCrys



Series: Final Space Oneshots [6]
Category: Final Space (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Separation Anxiety
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-20
Updated: 2020-02-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:28:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22809397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DramaticCrys/pseuds/DramaticCrys
Summary: Little Cato had gotten hurt and had to stay on the ship while the others had stepped off the ship for awhile. He should be fine, right?Set after adoption.
Relationships: Gary Goodspeed & HUE, Gary Goodspeed & Little Cato, HUE & Little Cato (Final Space)
Series: Final Space Oneshots [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1623109
Comments: 10
Kudos: 58





	A Little More Than Lonely

Heavy footfalls echoed in the empty alleyway behind the small Ventrexian. 

"Get back here kid!" Voices shouted, but he didn't stop running. His lungs burned and his legs ached, but neither of those pains matched the adrenaline that was pumping through his veins. The darkness did nothing to help conceal Little Cato, as the street lights were bright and the lights reflected on the rain that was currently drenching the poor boy. 

God he hates the rain.

He just has to get to the ship. He kept running, his feet slid as he turned a corner and he crashed into a brick wall that decorated the alleyway. It was damp and oddly slimy. He gets back up with a grunt and Little Cato takes off sprinting once more.

Where is Gary in this situation you might ask? 

No idea. Little Cato had wandered off while Gary was purchasing materials from a shady vendor in the middle of town. It was supposed to be a quick thing. Not anymore. 

No doubt he's worried. Little Cato has to have been gone for a couple of hours by now, and it's pouring. God, out of all things, why did it have to rain?

He could hear the footsteps gaining on him. 

Little Cato isn't exactly sure why they're chasing him in the first place. 

Probably a mix of him being the son of a man with a large bounty on his head and that he may have stolen something off one of the guys little stand he had set up. What can he say? Like father like son. Apparently he wasn't as slick as Gary though.

Okay, so maybe he knew exactly why he was being chased.

He made a quick decision to duck behind a dumpster and pull out his blaster. He held it to his chest and took a deep and shaky breath. He pulled his knees close to his chest and pushed himself as far into the corner of the wall and dumpster as he could. The hunters ran past him and scattered into multiple directions, no doubt still looking for him. He let out a breath and ran his hand through his drenched blue mohawk.

He waited a good while, in the damp dirty alleyway, until he could no longer hear the voices before pushing himself up to stand. As he did, a sharp pain shot up from his ankle, causing him to fall against the dumpster. 

"Ahh!" He groaned and lifted his injured leg off the ground. 

He must've sprained his ankle when he slipped. And now that the adrenaline is gone, all that's left is the pain in his foot and in his chest. 

He takes a deep breath. All he has to do is make it to the ship. 

He stumbles out of the alleyway, cautiously and quietly, just in case some of the hunters return. The rain helps drown out any sounds he's making at least.

It was a long limp back to the shopping part of town. Mainly because it was wet and slippery and limping around on one leg isn't an easy task. The rain had let up slightly, but not enough for Little Cato to start drying, or to stop slipping. 

"Little Cato!" He turned his head at the sound of a familiar voice. "Are you alright? I've been looking for you all over! Where have you been?" Gary ran to Little Cato and stopped in front of him. He began checking over the boy for any injuries. "Crap, you're freezing! Let's get back okay? We can talk at the ship. Run with me?" Gary spoke so fast the injured and exhausted boy didn't understand half of what he said. Gary started to slightly jog away before he noticed Little Cato had not moved. 

He turned back around and stared at him quizzically. "Is everything alright buddy?" 

Little Cato shrugged. "It's not a big deal or anything." Gary narrowed his eyes. "I just, might've, sprained my ankle is all." 

Gary sighed and moved closer to Little Cato. He patted the drenched boys head before turning around and getting down on one knee. "Climb on." 

Little Cato stared at him. "What?" 

Gary smiled and looked back at him. "Climb on my back, I'll carry you back."

Little Cato flushed and shook his head rapidly. "N-no. It's fine Gary, I-I can walk." 

Gary rolled his eyes. "Barely. Now get on, I'm not taking no for an answer." 

Little Cato bit his lip and stared at Gary's back. Gary is always open and inviting, even when he's turned away. 

Little Cato moved forward and swung his legs onto Gary's back and around his waist. He held on tightly as Gary grabbed his legs to steady himself before standing. 

"Since we have time, let's start with where were you?" Gary started walking towards the ship. 

"I was just looking at different shops before I lost you guys. I was looking for you, but then some hunters came and I got all mixed around with my directions." Little Cato leaned his head on Gary's shoulder as he explained his story. He wasn't entirely lying at least.

Gary nodded and let out a small noise as he hoisted Little Cato higher on his back. "Well I'm glad you're alright, mostly anyways." 

Little Cato nodded his head against Gary's shoulder and his eyes drooped shut. He could hear Gary's voice, but the rain drowned him out. Little Cato took a deep breath and let sleep take ahold of him. 

~

When he woke, he was in the medbay. Gary sat by his side, he was playing with a small contraption, probably just to keep himself busy rather than the thing actually having some use. 

"Gary?" 

Gary looked up at the sound of his name and smiled at the still sleepy boy. "Morning SpiderCat, sleep well?" Gary looked back down at the thing in his hand before setting it down. He crossed his hands in his lap and focused on Little Cato. 

"How long was I out for?" His voice was hoarse from lack of use.

"Half a day at tops. You must've been exhausted." 

Little Cato nodded. "I guess so."

Gary grimaced at the scratchiness of his voice. "Water?" 

Little Cato nodded again, but this time with much more vigor. Gary stood and walked to the sink in the medbay. He filled a plastic cup with water and handed it to Little Cato. He gulped the water down quickly. 

"Thirsty?" Little Cato sucked in a breath when he finished and nodded. Gary takes the empty cup from him and sets in down. "Little Cato, I'm going to be gone for the day. Are you going to be okay here alone?" 

Little Cato looks up at him. "I can't go?" 

Gary shakes his head. "You were mostly healed in the pod, but you shouldn't put too much force on that ankle yet." 

Little Cato pouted his bottom lip and looked at Gary sadly.

Gary laughed slightly and ruffled Little Cato's head. The boy smiled and looked up at Gary. "Nuh uh, don't try that with me." Gary covered his eyes. "I won't be tricked by your adorable black magic!" 

Little Cato laughed before frowning again. "Is anyone else going to be here?" 

"HUE might stay, but I think he said something about having a "boys night" with Mooncake?" Gary scratched the back of his head and shrugged. "I'll be back before you know it kid." Gary said in a soft voice. 

Little Cato nodded. "I'll be fine here." 

Gary smiled. "Okay then. We'll be back in a couple of hours." Gary walked to the door and then turned back to face the boy. "Not sure how many exactly, so don't wait up!" He walked backwards out of the room and ran off down the hallway, leaving Little Cato alone with his thoughts.

~

Little Cato relaxed in the medbay before trying to move around. Not because he was still tired or anything, the bed was just surprisingly comfy. He realized Gary was right, while his foot is healed, it still felt slightly weird. It wasn't hard to walk on it, but he definitely wouldn't be able to run on it if he had to. He's not sure why, maybe it was an after effect of the medbay healing process? He couldn't be sure. As long as this effect didn't last, he didn't mind it too much.

Little Cato busied himself throughout the day with repairing things, stealing cookies KVN hid in various places, and exploring the ship. Although the ship looked small from the outside, it was surprisingly large, a lot of the rooms were for recreation and Little Cato was absolutely sure there had to be a secret room somewhere on the Crimson Light. There also weren't many repairs that were needed to be done so he was able to complete most of them in a few hours.

A few more hours had passed by and it became harder to find something to do. Not because there wasn't anything to do, but because his mind kept racing. He couldn't concentrate solely on one thing. He was all over the place and he felt itchy. He wasn't exactly sure why, but something felt wrong.

Little Cato shook his head and sighed. He was just letting his head get ahead of him. Gary could handle himself, well, the others could and they usually protected Gary. 

So they should be fine, right?

It's been almost 24 hours since they left. 

Little Cato knows that Gary didn't know the exact time they'd be back, but 24 hours?! HUE and Mooncake had came back a few hours ago. HUE had rambled on about how fun their day was and Little Cato tried not to be jealous of all the fun they seemed to have.

"Little Cato? Is everything alright?" Little Cato was sitting in a chair by the opening that led outside. His leg bounced rapidly and he continuously flicked his fingers out. He was jittery to say the least. His tail twitched and his eyes never strayed from the hatch. 

"I'm good." Little Cato didn't even turn his head to look at the small bot. He noticed that his mouth was completely dry though. He swallowed as HUE walked further into the room and sighed.

"Little Cato, you haven't moved for approximately 2 hours. You've been staring at the door. May I ask why?" 

Little Cato shrugged. "Just waiting for Gary I guess." Little Cato sat further back in his chair so his feet didn't touch the ground and began swinging his legs. Had he really been here for that long? Had Gary really been gone for that long? Why are they still not here? Are they hurt? 

"Gary will be okay."

Had he said that aloud? Little Cato nodded and tried to slow his breathing. 

"Do you want to talk about why you're feeling antsy about his absence?" 

Little Cato finally turned to him with a look of bewilderment in his eyes. "Hah, antsy?" Little Cato waved him off and looked back towards the hatch, away from HUE. "Psh, no way. I just have nothing better to do is all." His hands began to twitch once again as more invasive thoughts of Gary's absence sank into his mind. His form started to shake and it started to get harder to breathe. His vision started to blur, from tears? From his anxieties? Probably both.

How could he just sit here? Gary could be hurt and he can't do anything about it. He can never do anything about it. You would think he had grown to be more useful since he lost his father, and then Gary from the time shard, and then Gary almost died, and then he lost his dad again, but apparently not. God, he was useless wasn't he? They're hurt and he can't do anything but sit here and-

"Little Cato." 

He opened his eyes. When did he close them? Little Cato's eyes darted between the small robot and the hatch. His breathing didn't start to slow until HUE placed his hand on the boys back and rubbed it comfortingly. His heart raced wildly and his chest felt as if it'd explode.

Ah, so they were tears. 

HUE waited as Little Cato tried to calm himself. He rubbed at his eyes and sat further down in his chair, trying to hide himself from his embarrassment. "It's just.." Little Cato pursed his lips. "Ever since the time shard," he shook his head and took an unsteady breath. 

"Breathe Little Cato. It is okay." 

Little Cato nodded and continued. "I just get nervous when he's gone is all. I feel like I'm back in that shard, alone, without anyone." He paused and looked down at the ground. "Without Gary." 

"Have you told Gary about this?" 

Little Cato shook his head. "It wasn't bad at first, but after the incident with my other dad, I don't know. I just know I don't want to bother him." He did know, not entirely. But he knew he didn't want to lose his dad, not again. And he knew he blamed himself. Not that he would tell HUE that.

"You should tell Gary. He would never be bothered by you." 

Little Cato nods, the shakiness in the voice was still very obvious. "I guess I could bring it up." 

If HUE had a face, he'd smile. "I'm glad. Now how about we get your mind off of him and play a game of darts?" 

Little Cato turns to HUE and smiles. "You're on."

When Little Cato heard the hatch unlock and open he scrambled out of the make-shift room HUE had and ran to greet everyone. 

They all looked exhausted unsurprisingly. They had been gone over an entire day. But that didn't sway Little Cato's happiness. Everyone had returned in once piece, that's all his mind could focus on. He tried to conceal the smile that adorned his face, but gave up when Gary returned the same smile. 

"Did you take care of the ship while we were gone?" Gary walked closer to Little Cato and the boy nodded.

"I took care of it so good! It's in pristine shape just for you Thunder Bandit." Little Cato raised his fist and held it out for Gary.

Gary chuckled and gave the boy a fist bump. "You're the best Spider Cat, knew I could count on you." Gary smiled as he started to walk out of the room and into the hallway, Little Cato followed. "Everyone is tired, it's been a long day. So how about we leave tomorrow after some rest, sound good to you?" 

Little Cato nodded and continued to follow Gary to his room. He bounced happily on his heels with a small smile on his face. 

Gary turned to him when he finally reached his room. "Hey Little Cato?"

"Hmm?"

"Is everything alright?" Gary tilted his head with a concerned look on his face. 

Ah, Gary could always tell when Little Cato was nervous or upset. Or maybe Little Cato just didn't hide his emotions well?

"Everything's a-okay with me, how 'bout you TB?" Little Cato leaned forward on his heels. He knows HUE said it would be a good idea to talk to him about, certain stuff, but was in the middle of the hall, in front of Gary's room really the best place?

"Well, I'm at my room. And I'm going to bed, so I'll see you when I get up?" Gary opened his door and stepped inside. 

Little Cato didn't hide the disappointment on his face or in his voice well. "O-Oh, okay. Goodnight Gary!" Little Cato then scampered off before Gary could comment on his displeasure of having to leave.

He had hid in the vents for most of the day. Not that anyone noticed, as they were all too busy trying to recover from whatever happened while out. If they weren't eating, they were sleeping. No one had looked hurt too badly, not physically at least. 

Little Cato wasn't hiding from everyone on purpose, he just wanted to be alone and uninterrupted with his thoughts. It was easier to think when he was alone. 

"Hey HUE, have you seen Little Cato?" Gary walked into the bridge after about a 5 hour nap. The room was darkened, signalling it was the 12 hour period that everyone should have been sleeping through. 

HUE turned to Gary. "Oh, did he finally talk to you?" 

Gary walked further into the room and sat in his chair. "He wanted to talk to me?" 

"Oh, I suppose he hasn't then. Since you don't know." 

"Know what?"

"You know, stuff." 

"What kinda stuff?" 

"Just your typical stuff. Well, not exactly 'typical' for someone his age, but not surprising for a young boy who went through what he did." 

God he hated HUE sometimes. He let out a deep sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. He looked up and gestured towards him with an open hand. "Is he okay?" 

HUE shrugged as best as his stiff robot body would let him. "I guess you should talk to him to find out. Or wait for him to come to you." HUE began walking out of the room. "Just be noticeably available."

Gary furrowed his eyebrows and pursed his lips to the side. Was Little Cato okay? He hadn't seen him since he first got back, not that he's been awake very long. But he figured the adventurous boy would want to hear the (very exaggerated in Gary's favor) tale of the giant disgusting alien bug thingies that wanted to eat them. Or, he thinks they wanted to eat them. He couldn't be sure, he was too busy screaming and shooting to really be paying attention.

As the day went by, he couldn't put what HUE had said out of his head. He didn't want to go to Little Cato and scare him away by forcing him to talk about whatever was bothering him. But he didn't want Little Cato to bottle up whatever was disturbing him. 

He walked casually to his room, mind racing. It was still dark on the ship and his footsteps seemed to echo in the empty hallway. He pressed the button on the side of his door and stepped in. It was even darker than the hallway. He stumbled and walked blindly into the room, he just had to reach the button on the wall adjacent to the door. 

When he finally flicked on the light, he screamed at the small figure that stood next to him. 

Little Cato jumped and let out a small scream himself. 

Gary groaned and rolled his eyes. "Jeez, don't creep up on a guy like that!" 

Little Cato tilted his head. "You didn't see me?"

Gary's eyes widened as he shook his head. "How could I? I can't see in the dark."

Little Cato opened his mouth, but promptly shut it. Any reply he had died at that comment. 

Gary sighed. "Right, you most likely can." Little Cato gave a small smile and nodded. "Freaking cats." He muttered.

Little Cato pursed his lips and furrowed his brow. Gary laughed at the cute boy trying to look menacing and patted his head. 

"What brings you to my humble abode?" Gary waved his arms out and walked backwards to his bed. When he reached the bed, he let himself tip over and fall into it. He patted the side of the bed next to him, signalling Little Cato to join him. 

Little Cato rubbed his arm with his hand and looked away before slowly walking over to join him. He also threw himself onto the bed, Gary bounced slightly from the impact and smiled. Neither looked at each other, nor did they say anything. They just stared at the ceiling in silence. Gary was waiting for Little Cato to talk and Little Cato was trying to think of the right words to say. 

"When I was in the time shard, one of the things I remember best was when I first got sucked in." Gary listened intently. Little Cato never really spoke about his time in the shard and Gary never pushed him. "I remember seeing you floating away from me, I called after you, but you were unconscious." 

Little Cato took a deep breath. "I was alone for so long, I started to go insane. I imagined everyone being there. Except you."

"I don't know why exactly. I mean, I had hallucinations of my other dad, kinda. But I knew for a fact that you were dead." Little Cato shrugged and Gary turned to look at him. Little Cato's form was rigid, his eyes never seemed to focus on one spot on the ceiling. They continuously darted around, like he was visually picturing everything that happened. 

"I blamed myself. For 60 years I blamed myself for dooming the team, and killing you. I almost couldn't live with myself. I guess even my subconscious was too ashamed of myself to picture you, even in my hallucinations." 

"When I returned, I had nightmares over losing you. I always thought that I would wake up, back in that dirty ship alone. Whenever you weren't with me for awhile I would start fidgeting; I'd get excessively worried." 

Little Cato wiped his eyes. "I was able to keep everything under control for awhile. But ever since what happened with Dad, I-" Little Cato took a deep and shaky breath, "when you guys left," Little Cato covered his eyes and finally just let the tears fall. "You were gone for so long, I was scared. Ever since you were hurt I haven't been able to keep my stupid emotions under control and I don't know what to do." 

Gary sat up and pulled Little Cato into a hug. "They're not stupid buddy." Gary pulled away slightly, just enough to level with Little Cato. He looked straight into the small boy's eyes, even if Little Cato couldn't hold his gaze for long. "You've been so strong and brave after everything had happened. It's okay to not be okay. That's what I'm here for. To help you be okay, or to be there when you're not." 

"Little Cato. I don't plan on ever leaving you, okay? I might be gone for a few hours, maybe even a few days, but I'll always come back to you. If you ever feel anxious again, please, come to me."

"I don't want to both-"

"Nah ah, you're not bothering me. You're my kid. I want to be there for you. It's not an obligation to me." Gary rubbed Little Cato's back. "Do you understand?" 

Little Cato nodded and threw himself at Gary. He sunk into Gary's arms and finally let go of everything. All his worries and anxieties were cried out and dried on Gary's shirt.

Gary's glad that Little Cato is seeming to open up to him more. He doesn't want the excitable boy to become jaded from concealing his emotions. And it's healthy, to let this kinda thing out. Gary wishes he would have had this type of comfort when he was just a young Gary child. 

So he tries his best, for Little Cato, to be the shoulder to cry on that he himself needed as a boy. 

He figures if Little Cato keeps coming to him with his problems, then he's doing a decent job so far.


End file.
